Concentrating manganese ores



Patented Apr. 17, 1934 UNITED STATES 1.955.039 I CONCENTRATING MANGANESE ones Arthur 'John Weinig and Robert Emmett Cuthbertson, Golden, 0010., assignors to Cuban- American Manganese Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware No Drawing. Application November 19, 1930, 7

Serial No. 496,815

3 Claims. (Cl.- 209-166) Our invention relates to improved processes of concentrating oxide manganese ores by gravity concentration and/ or flotation concentration, and comprises the use of a novel reagent combina- 5 tion for recovering the oxide manganese minerals as a froth concentrate, and in some cases treat ing the crude manganese ores to a calcining roast before concentration of any kind is attempted,

which preliminary calcination has been found to greatly improve the concentration and recovery of the manganese minerals on difficult ores which require such treatmen't.-

We have discovered that in the flotation concentration treatment of oxide manganese ores, the use of a reagent combination of fish oil soap together with an aromatic hydrocarbon compound or mixture of hydrocarbon compounds such as dipentene, xylene, and the light oil fraction from coal tar distillation, isvery effective in i recovering the oxide manganese minerals as a froth concentrate.

We have further discovered that the oxide manganese minerals may be successfully recovered by the flotation concentration treatment by using a reagent combination of fishoil soap together with an aliphatic hydrocarbon, or mixtures of aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds, such as kerosene and crude petroleum, or kerosene and crude oil. Some cheap by-product hydrocarbon compound, such I reagent combination.

We have also discovered that on certain difficult ores containing normally a large quantity of colloidal ore slime, calcining the crude ore, prior to concentration, greatly assists in the subsequent gravity concentration and/or flotation concentration. This calcining may be accomplished by heating the crude ore preferably at a temperature of about 600 C. for about fifteen minutes, although temperatures above or below 600 C. may be used for longer or sliorter times than fifteen minutes. Asa furtherbenefit derived from calcination, non-oxide manganese ores are converted to oxide which can then-be recovered by our specific concentration methods.

We have found that a considerable variation in the quantities of reagents may be employed in the flotation of the manganese minerals. Of course from an economic standpoint it is preferred to use the smallest quantities of reagents which will yield the best commercial results. As concrete examples, fish oil soap has been employed -in amounts ranging from five to fifty pounds per ton of ore treated by flotation, and hydrocarbons have been used in amounts ranging from one to as gas-oil, may be substituted for kerosene in our" thirty pounds per ton of ore treated by flotation. The amounts of the two classes of reagents de-- pend on the character of the ore; whether it contains a large or small percentage of manganese minerals; whether it contains a high or low percentage of colloidal slime, etc.

As an example illustrat've of our improved processes, we give the following description without however restricting ourselves to the specific detailsset forth:

Raw or mine-runore would first be dry crushed to a convenient size, say inch. This step may be accomplished by any of the machines or combination of machines commonly employed for dry ore crushing.

The crushed ore may then be introduced into a rotary kiln for calcining if the character of the 'ore makes this treatment necessary before concentration, or the crushed ore may be concentrated without this calcining step. If calcining 7 is done on the ore, it will be heated up to 750 C. for a suitable period of time. (Lower calcining temperatures are usually found suflicient.) This calcining of the ore drives off combined water from the manganese minerals thus raising their specific gravity advantageously for gravity concentration; it also converts non-oxide manganese minerals to oxides, and furthermore it destroys colloidal slime by dehydration, which slime would otherwise be detrimental to success. ful concentration by gravity or flotation methods.

After the mine-run ore has been reduced by dry crushing and in somecases further treated bycalcination, it is then ready for concentration proper. Sizing by screens may then be employed as a first step in the concentration process. The coarse sizes from this screen sizing would then be fed into jigs where a jig concentrateof coarse manganese minerals is produced together with a jig tailing which would be further treated by regrinding and flotation; The fines from the initial screen sizing could be passed over concentrating tables for recovery of a table concentrate of fine manganese minerals, while the table tailing would join the jig tailingdor regrinding and flotation. -100 Both the jig and table tailings would be ground in ball or rod mills to a fineness sufiicient to liberate. the finest manganese minerals from the gangue constituents of the bre, the fineness of grind depending on the degree of intergrowth of 105 such minerals with gangue, but ranging generally from 48 to 200 mesh. This grinding would be done in the presence of water and the resulting ore water mixture is called a pulp. This pulp containing a requisite 110 amount of water is then fed into a flotation machine where it is agitated with introduction of finely dividedair. Fish oil soap is added which produces a froth. A hydrocarbon compound or mixture of hydrocarbon compounds is also added to act as a slime controlling or slime depressing reagent. In addition to froth production by flsh oil soap and slime depression by hydrocarbon compounds, both of these two types of reagents are instrumental in causing the manganese minerals to attach themselves to air bubbles which are constantlyrising to the surface of the pulp. Under these conditions the manganese minerals collect ina layer on top of the pulp and may be then removed, and recovered.

We have found it better practice to add the fish oil soap and the hydrocarbons separately, but usually to the same place in the flotation circuit which may consist of rougher cells and cleaner cells. We have also found it convenient to add the fish oil soap in the form of a water mixture which may be prepared by adding fish oil soap to water and then heating until a fluid mixture is obtained.

It is understood, of course, that other reagents may be used in addition to fish oil soap and hydrocarbon compounds for specific reasons in the flotation of the oxide manganese minerals without in any way sacrificing the essential advantages of our invention. I

By our'method of treatment higher recoveries of the manganese minerals can be obtained in the treatment of oxide manganese ores than was possible by older methods, thereby making it feasible to treat ores that otherwise would not be commercially available. By our'improved methods it is also possible to concentrate by flotation oxide ganese minerals 'manganese ores comprise essentially the. use of a novel reagent combination of fish oil soap and hydrocarbons for recovery of the oxide manin the form of a froth concentrate, and also when necessary, calcination of the crude manganese ores as a pretreatment for gravity concentration and/orflotation."

We claim as our invention:

1. The process of concentrating oxide manganese ores which consists in subjecting said ores in the form of a pulp of finely-divided material to a froth flotation operation with agitation and aeratio in the presence of a reagent produced by the combined interaction of fish oil soap, crude oil and kerosene.

2'. The froth flotation reagent combination for treating oxide ,manganese ores comprising fish oil soap and dipenten'e mixed with a light oil fraction from coal tar distillation.

3. Thosesteps in the process of concentrating oxide'manganese ores in the form of a pulp of finely-divided material to a froth flotation operation with agitation and aeration in the presence of a reagent produced by the combined interaction of fish oil soap; crude oil and kerosene which consist in first adding the fish oil soap to said aqueous orepulp to produce a froth and then adding the crude oil and kerosene thereto, said crude oiland kerosene controlling and depressing the slime therein. 

